The present study investigates to what extent learners' first language (L1) may have an impact on their writing and speaking performances. While Japanese continues to enjoy a large enrolment across levels in Australian schools and universities, the population of learners has become increasingly diverse creating challenges for teachers. One…

Background: The effect of note-taking has been well-recognized by EFL educators. However, little empirical research has been done to investigate combined effects of note-taking instruction and note-taking language (whether in L1 or L2) in an acquisition-poor environment, where English is used as an instructional language yet the audience is…

This article is part of a large-scale project on the study of Spanish in high school that reports on an investigation of the low college enrollments in Spanish courses of students who study Spanish in high school. An online survey was administered to 631 high school students studying Spanish and 19 Spanish teachers, and the results revealed that…

Since 1958, the Modern Language Association (MLA), with the continuous support of the United States Department of Education, has gathered and analyzed data on undergraduate and graduate course enrollments in languages other than English in United States colleges and universities. The previous survey examined language enrollments in fall 2006; here…

Efforts to fund the teaching of critical languages, along with increasing enrollments in less commonly taught language (LCTL) classes, have evidenced a renewed interest in LCTL pedagogy. While much is known about enrollment trends, materials development, and professional training, far less research has compared LCTL and commonly taught language…

The purpose of the study was to investigate the relationship between foreign language learning and verbal ability in English as measured by the verbal section of the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) Reasoning Test. Comparing foreign language students to nonforeign language students in this study, the effect of taking a foreign language on SAT verbal…

With the continuous support of grants from the Department of Education, the Modern Language Association (MLA) has since 1958 gathered and analyzed information on enrollments in languages other than English as reported to them by United States institutions of higher education. This latest and twenty-first survey examines trends in enrollments for…

This study of foreign language enrollments in public secondary schools, the thirteenth in a series, focuses primarily on enrollments in Fall 1978, but it also presents comparative data from earlier reports. The report is based on a questionnaire survey directed in fall 1979 and spring 1980 to all state foreign language supervisors. In the 20…

Responses to a national survey attempting to identify the characteristics of successful high school German programs are presented in the areas of instructional materials, classroom dynamics, co-curricular activities, public relations, school district factors, enrollment problems, and general comments. (Author/CB)

Presents a survey of foreign language enrollment in public secondary schools. Results were obtained from the responses of 33 states and estimates from the 18 missing respondents. Approximately 3.5 million students were enrolled in foreign language courses in grades 7-12. Spanish had 54 percent enrollment, French 30 percent, German 9 percent, and…

Describes an attitudes survey conducted to ascertain the validity of the reasons put forth by educators as to why there has been a decline in British schools in the number of students opting to continue their study of foreign languages in the sixth form and beyond. (SED)

Describes how the Spanish department at Central Michigan University began an experimental program in an attempt to address the surging Spanish enrollments. The description of the program includes quantitative and qualitative assessments that may serve as a model for other undergraduate programs of similar size. (Author/VWL)

Four aspects of the problem of retention of students in foreign language programs are discussed. (1) "Retention and Dropout: The National Situation," by K. E. Muller, describes a survey of retention rates in a sample of colleges and universities; (2) "Retention and Dropout: Some Remarks on One Department's Experience," by F. Valette, reflects on…

Reports on the fall 1983 survey of foreign language registration in U.S. institutions of higher education. There was a total of 966,013 foreign language registrations--an increase of 4.5 percent since the last published report. The six leading languages were Spanish, French, German, Italian, Russian, and Latin. (SED)

Discusses the problem of British students (1) not electing foreign language courses and (2) electing the courses, but dropping out after a year or two. Examines some reasons that more girls than boys study languages. Questions whether the 16+ examination system might be discouraging students from language study. (EKN)